Posts tagged with Business Models

Paid content and subscription services are hot once again thanks to an economic downturn that has reminded online publishers that ad revenues are not impervious.

But paid content isn't easy online (newspapers can attest to that) and many publishers inevitably fail at making the transition from free to paid. Here are several ways you can boost your chances of succeeding when selling content online.

As Facebook's unbelievable growth continues unabated, the company is increasingly finding itself scrutinized by critics who are asking a simple question: 'where's the money'?

Even though Facebook is generating hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, its costs are growing rapidly and there are various unsubstantiated rumors that the company is on a potentially disastrous financial path.

The recession is hitting publishers hard. This is true online and offline as advertisers aren't limiting what gets put on the chopping block.

Many believe that the trackability and accountability will keep online publishers in good stead and despite declining online ad spend, it's easy as an online publisher to look at the woes of the newspaper industry and feel pretty confident about the future.

Plenty of Fish is one of the most popular dating websites in the world. Despite the fact that it's visually unappealing, there's good reason for its popularity. Unlike most of its competitors, Plenty of Fish is totally free.

Its operator, Markus Frind, reportedly makes $10m a year from advertising displayed on Plenty of Fish. On average, it's said that he puts in about 10 hours a week running the site.

I've discussed the economics of blogging numerous times in the past. Can
blogging be a viable career? Can the blogosphere mint hoards of new
millionaires? These are all questions that many have asked over the
past several years as the blogosphere has grown in size and prominence.

Despite the fact that I have been able to turn my blogging activities
into a bit of cash, I've remained skeptical about blogging as a
business and as a career, which is why the man behind Drama 2.0 still calls 'international business' his primary line of work.

Are publishers using outdated metrics? How should they be innovating and reinventing their business models?

Understandably there has been much debate of late around publishing business models. The rise of the internet, compounded by the global economic woes, are making it increasingly hard to see where the money is in publishing and media going forwards.